Monday, June 20, 2011

Rehab IX: Walking and Wolling

I must be better -- I jaywalked today. Crossed the street on red, then made a right turn, going across the second street before I even reached the sidewalk. Pain in the ankle is pretty much gone. Now it hurts on the top of the foot, above the toes. This pain I can tolerate. When I had ankle sprains or blisters in the past, I'd limp for a while, then the limping would start affecting my other leg and back and I'd get mad and stop limping, forcing myself to walk through pain. This inevitably led to fairly rapid improvement. Optimistically, I think I am at that point now. I can walk tolerably through this pain on top of the foot. It affects my gait, but not so much. I'm getting better.

I saw Dr. Jake last week, the rendezvous preceded by another x-ray. This one was different, taken standing up for the first time. All looks well. I finally had a good look at my third, unscrewed fracture in the back of the joint. Contrary to what I'd thought, this one is not behind my Achilles tendon, but in the back of the outside ankle bone. So, in fact, I broke that bone in two places: back and outside. The outside was fixed. The one in the back is still there. The bone did not break off, but splintered and it looks somewhat like a narrow "Y." Dr. Jake said it'll take some time before bone fills in that gap. I hope it does before I see him again -- in October.

On Saturday, I did a decent outdoor ride -- Redwood-Pinehurst, a hilly 25 miler. Three months ago, this was a warm up. On Saturday, it was plenty. I was pleased with how the ride went. I had good energy and adequate legs, considering I hadn't done a ride of that distance since March. In the afternoon, I required a two-hour nap, however, so it appears I'm some time away from even a metric century, never mind an English double. Small steps. I'll get there eventually.